Microsoft's Nadella Shows Promise at Build Conference

By

Dan Gallagher

April 3, 2014 3:25 p.m. ET

After barely two months, the easy part of Satya Nadella's job is over.

He made his first appearance at Microsoft's Build developers' conference in the role of chief executive this week. Since Mr. Nadella was named to the post on Feb. 4, he has enjoyed a generous grace period from investors desperate for signs of change: The stock is up more than 12%, double the Nasdaq's gain.